Gage County officials act on culvert project bids

BEATRICE – Seven companies offered bids for a ninth round of concrete box culvert projects in Gage County, under a State of Nebraska Bridge Match program.

The program pays over half the cost of the county work, which will take place along 82nd Road south of Nebraska Highway 41….and near DeWitt along Chesnut Road east of Southwest 100th.

The Gage County Board approved the bid of Gus Construction Company of Iowa….at a total cost of $692,461. Other bids ranged from nearly $725,000 to $933,000.

The work is scheduled to begin August 9th and be completed by October 15th.

County officials also selected a company for two culvert projects,,,after the county was locked in a scheduling dispute with the firm on prior work. The board approved the bid of Vogt Enterprises, including provisions to ensure adherence to the construction time frame.

"This is the one where we had over, just as a clarification, over a hundred thousand dollars liquidated damages from the last project, because we had issues with the completion dates. There was a very strong discussion with this one, because it is our responsibility to go with the lowest, responsible bidder. There would be arguments that that was not the case. However, to give them the benefit, they did come in and they accepted those liquidated damages for that project. We just want to make sure that we're very clear with our deadlines on this. Even with those deadlines, there is still going to be 50 calendar days maintained, with those deadlines."

County Supervisor Emily Haxby wanted to ensure the construction period doesn’t extend well beyond the schedule specifications. Such delays will result in $1,500 per day, per site….in liquidated damages, if the construction time frame isn’t met.

The construction finishing date will be no later than October 1st. The projects are located along Cedar Road west of Southwest 72nd, near Clatonia…and along Hickory Road west of South 134th…north of Filley.

Meanwhile, exploding oil prices due to the war in Iran had officials pondering whether to go forward with armorcoat maintenance of asphalt roads this year. The reason? Two bids received came in well over budget.

The Gage County Board opted to go ahead with the maintenance to keep from falling behind on the program, which is conducted each year.

The supervisors approved the bid of Sta-Bilt Construction for armorcoating over 31 miles of roadway, at a cost of $797,254. That is well over the $450,000 budgeted by the county for this year’s work.

Armorcoat involves using oil and aggregate such as gravel, to prolong the life of asphalt roads.

Several board members felt with the uncertainty over the price of oil…it was still important to go ahead with the work to stay on schedule. The supervisors voted 5-1 to approve the bid for the work, which is scheduled to begin around May 11th and take about two weeks to complete.

Gage County Highway Superintendent Mark Kuhnke says road segments involved in the project this year include…

• The Pickrell Road east and west

• The Holmesville Road from U.S. Highway 136 to the B-Line

• First Road, from Dorsey to Hackberry Road

• The Blue Springs spur from the B-Line to the River Bridge

• River Road south of the River Bridge to just north of Wymore…and

• South 51st Road south of Wymore, to U.S. Highway 77.

Gage County officials on Wednesday also received one response on a request for proposals for grant-writing services. The proposal was submitted to the county by Merchant McEntyre and Associates, the same firm that works with the City of Beatrice. The proposal will be reviewed by county officials.

Gage County also received a check for $15,793…..half of the funds left over from an old Gage County Economic Development account.